


Hello, Love

by sleepless_siren



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28653231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepless_siren/pseuds/sleepless_siren
Summary: As soon as your soulmate tattoo appears, it's just a matter of time until you meet them, right?Well, Mingyu is not as lucky as his other friends and family members. How long does he have to wait until he finally meets them?
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	Hello, Love

**Author's Note:**

> I've been having this urge to write a meanie soulmate tattoo AU since December. This is the first part of the series written in Mingyu's POV. I hope you guys enjoy this. :)

Ever since his tattoo first appeared on his wrist during middle school, Mingyu often wondered if he had actually met his soulmate before it appeared. That may be the reason he still didn’t have his other half beside him. He asked his mom about it one day when some of his friends had already met their soulmates and she just smiled while gently patting his hair. 

_“You don’t need to worry about it, Mingyu-yah. You will meet them when you’re both ready.”_

Ready? Ready for what? It’s been years since then and I’ve been ready all this time but I still haven’t met them at all, Mom, he thought bitterly.

Mingyu had been imagining what it would feel like when he finally got to meet his soulmate. Maybe they’d meet in the park while taking his dogs for a walk or maybe at the coffee shop while they were queuing together. There could also be a possibility that his soulmate would be the one taking Mingyu’s order there, he thought. Meeting during a trip with his friends would also be fun, Mingyu could immediately introduce his soulmate and brag about them to his close friends. He’d thought about every scenario in his mind, getting ahead of himself, being over excited about the prospect of meeting his one and only but until this day, there was no sign of his soulmate anywhere, while everyone around him had already met theirs. 

Even his annoying cousin, Seungkwan had already met his Hansol in high school and they had been together ever since. He was happy for them, obviously but of course he couldn’t deny envying them whenever they went on dates or being super clingy and disgusting right in front of his kimchi.

The problem is, the tattoo on his wrist was a word so common, almost every person he’d met had said that word on their first encounter. And after a few false alarms, he soon realized that finding his soulmate would take a significant amount of time and patience.

☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Amidst the frustration and loneliness that he suffered and after years of experiencing the anticipation and disappointment every time someone said that word to him, he tried dating someone during university. The guy was a classmate and they got along pretty well. They were both fed up about the soulmate thing and were convinced they wouldn’t get the chance to meet their destined ones so they decided to try dating each other and see how that went. But after a few weeks, Mingyu felt his heart was not really into it. Deep down, he felt like he was betraying his soulmate, even though the relationship that was built out of convenience was only platonic. There wasn’t any urge to become more intimate from either of them, they were just like good friends spending more time together. They ended their relationship on good terms and a few weeks later, his ex finally found his other half. Seeing how happy they were with each other, Mingyu was left contemplating whether he actually had a soulmate or not.

After that, he stopped trying too hard and decided to just leave it to fate. He kept reminding himself that having a soulmate was not everything but merely a bonus, because there were other important aspects in life that could make him happy and content, like his family, his close friends, his love for food and photography.

He dedicated himself to his work and rarely took any breaks. Having his own team and photography studio had its own perks, he could accept or reject any project that was offered to him.

And so, he took every photography project just to get himself busy and forget about the whole soulmate issue. It worked pretty well for a couple of years. His studio became famous and the number of clients never seemed to decrease. Projects after projects were constantly offered to him. What started as a hobby, became his passion and his expertise was acknowledged by the public. He couldn't be any happier than he was at the moment.

It backfired one day when he realized he was standing with his video camera in front of the altar of his clients’ wedding anniversary. They were planning to renew their vows after being married for thirty years. As he was recording both husbands exchanging their vows, there was a bittersweet feeling when he heard the couple finally found each other after searching for more than twenty years. It gave him hope but also despair. Would he be as lucky as them?

A few weeks passed by after Mingyu finished editing the pictures and videos of that ceremony. The couple was very thankful for Mingyu and his team’s excellent job in portraying one of the happiest days of their lives. Before parting, they gave him blessings so that the next time they met, Mingyu would already be with his other half. Mingyu smiled sincerely, thanking them for using his services but he took the blessings with a grain of salt.

☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Two weeks later, he was on his way to his parents’ house in Anyang after having his whole family worrying about him. They heard about his near collapse due to exhaustion from his best friend, Minghao and they forced him to take some time off. He didn’t want to make his family even more worried so he tried hard to look fine. However, his false cheerfulness couldn’t erase the dark circles around his eyes and the exhaustion was pretty much shown by the way he hunched his shoulders after playing with his nephews and nieces.

Despite all that, he did feel somewhat energized by being with his entire family. Playing with his dogs, [Aji and Bobpul](https://www.instagram.com/p/B4h4-ZZHM7c/?igshid=x29hmt60vtgc), was also one of the highlights of his vacation. Seungkwan even came and stayed a few days with his dog, [Bookkeu](https://www.instagram.com/p/CIFH1dlD3B-/?igshid=11igwq1j3mlsb) even though his house was only a few blocks away. He felt guilty worrying his whole family like that and he promised them not to overwork himself too much. 

When it was time to go back to his apartment in Seoul after staying in Anyang for two weeks, his mother gathered him in a tight hug. 

“It’s almost time,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

She didn’t answer and just smiled in that typical way of hers while brushing a few strands of hair that escaped from his otherwise perfect side bangs. 

“That’s very vague, mom,” he complained and got a pinch on the cheek from her.

☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆

The drive back to Seoul was less than half an hour from Anyang. He didn’t need to take a short detour to the supermarket to restock his fridge because of all the food his mother made him take home. Being with his family really did give him a boost of energy and he chuckled as he looked down at all the bags he was carrying, each one filled with containers of various home cooked meals. He was sure he wouldn’t be able to finish all of these alone.

_Might as well call for backup._

He had already messaged his close friends to come over for dinner by the time he entered his combination code to open his apartment door. Soonyoung immediately answered that he would come as soon as possible with Jihoon because he really missed mama Kim’s home cooked meals. Minghao also agreed to come after he finished a few errands.

As he was preparing the table and heating up the food, his mother’s words crawled back into his mind again. 

“Is it really the right time to finally meet?” He wondered out loud.

The sound of the doorbell startled him and he immediately went to the door to welcome his friends. As they settled around his apartment, each with a plate of their own, they exchanged stories during Mingyu’s absence. Soonyoung even told them about this new colleague of his that just got transferred from Changwon. The guy loved playing video games so much, he instantly clicked with Jun, Soonyoung’s other colleague who was also Minghao’s cousin, much to Minghao’s amusement. Soonyoung added that the Changwon guy had a unique soulmate tattoo, something about how he was similar to penguins but he couldn’t quite remember the exact words.

“Penguins?” Mingyu laughed. “Why penguins? And why would someone say such a thing to someone they just met?”

“Well, considering Soonyoung’s soulmate tattoos with Jihoon, I don’t know which one is more hilarious,” Minghao jumped in.

Soonyoung looked at his tattoo on his own wrist, an elegant ‘what are you?’ scrawled on it and then glanced cheekily at Jihoon’s wrist which showed a messy handwriting of ‘I’m a tiger’.

Jihoon just rolled his eyes, “I don’t know why I’m stuck with this idiot. Imagine what I had to go through when my tattoo appeared.”

They all laughed out loud. Mingyu was among the first few people who witnessed it. Jihoon’s tattoo first appeared when he was in elementary school. The kids around Jihoon were excited because they thought Jihoon’s soulmate would be a tiger hybrid superhero based on a cartoon that was popular at that time therefore they concluded that Jihoon had superpowers as well. They asked if Jihoon could fly or run super fast. Some even asked him to turn into a tiger. Mingyu didn’t know how they came up with that idea but it was hilarious.

Not long after, Soonyoung who had just moved into town, came to the playground when all the kids, including Jihoon and Mingyu, were playing there. Soonyoung was running around in his favorite tiger T-shirt while laughing and playfully growling with the other kids and that was when Jihoon, who was usually a quiet observant kid, became fascinated with his cheerfulness. He approached Soonyoung that day and the rest was history. 

They learned that Soonyoung’s obsession towards tigers started ever since he was in kindergarten because of the giant tiger plushie that his older sister gave him. His tiger collection grew as the years went by and most of them were gifts from Jihoon, who at first claimed that he was sick and tired of seeing tiger stripes everywhere. But that didn’t stop him from buying tiger themed products whenever he saw them because they reminded Jihoon of this tiger maniac that always cling to him whenever they’re together.

After catching their breaths from laughing too much, Soonyoung continued his story and said that the guy was pretty chill with having that penguin tattoo. 

“I guess he developed an immunity of being called [Pororo](https://www.netflix.com/id-en/title/80036747) the whole time he was still in school,” Soonyoung added as he took a sip from his beer.

“Man, that’s so mean. Kids can be pretty savage.”

“Yeah.. He’s chill now but he told me if he finally meets his soulmate one day, he’s gonna give him a piece of his mind for all the trouble he’d faced.”

_Ah, so he hadn't met his soulmate yet, just like me._

This guy might be another potential candidate as Mingyu’s soulmate but he forced himself not to think about the possibility too much in case it ended in another heartbreak.

Mingyu gave a salute with his beer can, “Good luck with that.”

☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆*･゜ﾟ･*☆

His work load afterwards became unbearable again and he paid no mind to the protest of the people around him. After two months of trying to persuade Mingyu to slow down, his close friends, including his cousin, finally decided to interfere. They booked him a flight all the way to Japan to go skiing, saying the change of scenery might help him clear his mind.

So here he was, present day, all bundled up in his ski gear in a ski resort he and his friends usually come to every few years.

Mingyu flopped down on the snow at the edge of the ski slopes, near the sledding area. Having skied for quite a while made him tired so he just sat there with his skis beside him, waiting for his other friends to come down. He should’ve gone to the lounge to wait there but the scenery was too beautiful to ignore. Besides, the ski resort was not as crowded because they chose to go there during low season. He made sure he was out of the way so that he wouldn't be run over by a sled or hit by a snowball. As he was adjusting his goggles on his forehead, his eyes went to his wrist. Pulling the sleeves up a bit, his fingers skimmed over the letters there. 

Such a simple word written in his soulmate's handwriting. All his life, he had been anticipating his first meeting with his soulmate. What would they look like? How would they smile? After they're together, would they love the food that Mingyu cooked for them? Because he had been learning to cook not just for himself but also for his future soulmate. Would they prefer dogs or cats? He was actually more of a dog person but cats were also cute so a cat or two would be fine if his soulmate wanted them. 

He chuckled bitterly. He was getting ahead of himself again. This trip was supposed to make him forget about all of that but he couldn’t help it, being the hopeless romantic that he is. He second guessed his decision in letting fate decide its course. It was difficult for him, especially when he’s usually the one active in pursuing things.

His friends knew how frustrated he was with the whole situation but they kept quiet all this time. They only lent a helping hand when they knew he was forcing himself too much, just like the situation now. He was finally at peace with himself not having a soulmate but unconsciously, his mother’s words affected him more than he imagined and it made him anxious. 

_‘It’s almost time.’_

He sighed, spreading his legs in front of him and leaned back a bit with both of his arms supporting his body. The snow underneath him felt cold but he was still reluctant to go. He closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the blue sky above him. The breeze that touched his skin was cool and calming but his heart was far from that. All he wanted was to meet the one destined to be with him, was it too much to ask?

A deep voice suddenly startled him from his inner musings. 

“Hello.”

He whipped his head around to the right and saw the most handsome man he had ever seen in his entire life, sliding down the ski slope on his stomach. The man had the most adorable laugh, as he passed him and glided down a few meters ahead of him. He realized that the person had said something that was so common but pulled on his heartstrings too much. He couldn’t deny how his heart seemed to stop working for a split second only to beat again rapidly as if he just finished running a marathon. However, past experiences made him afraid to hope and face another disappointment. Behind him, Mingyu could hear people laughing and calling the man in Korean, “Wonwoo ya! You’re hilarious!”

What a coincidence meeting fellow countrymen here. That Wonwoo guy eventually stopped sliding and he stood up from the snow to venture back the way he came from. Mingyu was astonished at that man’s beauty when he saw his nose scrunched adorably beneath his wire framed glasses. The man was wearing a white ski jacket, camouflage printed pants and a black beanie with goggles on top of it and he was still laughing quietly while holding the red sled he was using earlier. As he passed Mingyu on the way up to his friends, he nodded cheekily and Mingyu’s face literally lit up. Mingyu wanted to say something charming but the words he vomited seconds later were less than attractive.

“You looked like a penguin.”

He immediately regretted the words he said the second he saw those eyes opened wide, his eyebrows arched until they disappeared under his beanie.

_W_ _ow_ , _Mingyu, did you forget your manners back in Korea? How could you say that to someone you just met?_

“What did you just say?”

_Can that voice go even lower?_ His brain supplied while simultaneously fearing for his own life. Here he was, far away from home on a vacation with his friends who were currently having the time of their lives on some advanced ski slopes far way up there while he was alone waiting for this gorgeous guy to punch the living daylights out of him.

Said gorgeous guy was currently advancing at him with an unreadable expression while he was pulling up his sleeve, red sled left forgotten behind him. Gone was that adorable nose scrunch, leaving a piercing gaze and furrowed eyebrows with a slight frown on his lips. The atmosphere was weird, he couldn’t even hear this guy’s friends anymore. Weren’t they still laughing at his friend earlier? Were they still behind Mingyu? Did they just leave to give this guy privacy to plummet Mingyu and bury him deep inside the snow? 

Mingyu muttered an apology and closed his eyes when Wonwoo finally stood in front of him, anticipating the punch. A few seconds passed and the punch never came. He wanted to open his eyes but was too scared to face Wonwoo’s wrath. Suddenly, he felt long gloved fingers cupping both of his cheeks. He opened his eyes to see Wonwoo was crouching in front of him with amusement etched on his face.

“Can- can you repeat what you just said to me earlier?”

“Sorry. I’m terribly sorry. I’m not usually rude but that was hilarious but I shouldn’t have said that to a stranger no matter how funny it seemed but oh my god I’m babbling again. I’m so sor-” 

Wonwoo chuckled and Mingyu couldn’t help but fall in love with that sound, even though he knew that he was done for because in a few minutes he was going to be buried here under all this powdery white snow and his friends wouldn’t be able to find his body.

“No,” he chuckled again, “The ones before that, the first words you said to me.”

Mingyu was taken aback but he eventually found his voice again.

“Err...You looked like a penguin?”

And then Mingyu was blinded by Wonwoo’s radiating smile and the next thing he saw was his wrist with what seemed like Mingyu’s own handwriting with the words he literally just said to Wonwoo. His heart beat erratically and he struggled to look at his own wrist. They both laughed with relief when the word _Hello_ came into view, scribbled on his tan skin.

“Hello, soulmate. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Wonwoo said while taking both of Mingyu’s hands in his. 

Mingyu was again blinded by that radiant smile. The way his eyes sparkled behind his glasses was also breathtaking and was already included in his list of adorable things that Wonwoo does. Wonwoo, who is his soulmate. Wow! He can’t wait to get to know more of this man. Whether he preferred cats or dogs or whether he’d let Mingyu cook for him for the rest of their lives or not. But first he needed to know, “Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me at the lounge?”

“I’d love to.”

The nose scrunch that followed that smile was also jotted in his list.


End file.
